Car-coupling



(No Model.)

M. T. MILES. GAR COUPLING.

z l I. I E 1 E1 I l @1 3 id mm WITNESSES: I INVENTOR ATTORNE Y8.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELVIN T. MILES, OF LE MARS, IOWA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,965, dated November8, 1892.

1 Application filed March 16, 1892. Serial No. 425.193 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MELVIN T. MILES, of Le Mars, in the county ofPlymouth and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Car Coupling,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to produce a simple, strong, andpractical automatic carcoupling, using an ordinary link to connect twoof the improved couplings or couple the improved device with an ordinarybull-nose car-coupling of the link-and-pin type.

To this end. my invention consists in the construction and combinationof parts, as is hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side View of two couplings of the improved construction incoupled condition, one of said couplings being in section, taken on theline 1 1 in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the couplings shown in Fig.1, one coupling being broken away and in section on the line 2 2 inFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a reverse plan view of the improved coupling on acar-frame shown in part, and Fig. 4 is a front View of the improvementin position upon a car broken away above.

There is a preferably cast-metal draw-head A provided, which isapertured at the front end to form a throat a, into which an elongatedclosed link B can be freely inserted a limited distance, the top andlower walls of the aperture being curved away from each other outwardly,so as to provide a sloping surface whereon the link end will slide whenit is entered. The body of the draw-head A is supported to slidelongitudinally upon a transverse plate I), which is affixed upon thestring-pieces O of the car-frame, there being a loop 0 attached totheinner end of the drawhead, which embraces two buffer-plates d,between which a spring e is located, which is adapted to cushion thedraft force and endthrust sustained by the draw-head in service. Thereis a longitudinal slot a formed in the draw-head at its transversecenter and a properdistance from the front edge that intersects thethroat-aperture a, said slot extending from the lower side, as shown inFig. 1,the

edge walls of the slot above being made circular to permit the insertionof a couplingdog 9, that is preferablygiven a circular eontour, so as toloosely fit in the recess or slot a. The dog 9 is centrally perforatedto receive a pivot-bolt 7L, that passes through the drawhead also,whereby the dog is supported free to rock upon the bolt. There is asegment cut from the disk-shaped dog g by the removal of which two facesat right angles to each other are produced, the face g, which isshortest, forming a locking-toe g on the dog when the parts areassembled. A cross-slot is formed in the draw-head A at such apointrearward of the pivot-bolt h and above it as will allow a locking-bardto slide upon the horizontal face g of the dog g when the face g isvertical, as shown in Fig. 1. Upon the projecting end portion 1" of thebar 11 a spring is placed, which presses upon the side wall of thedraw-head and also on a washer is, that is secured on the end of thebar, so that the latter will be drawn a proper distance laterally by thespring. bar 2', which extends beyond the draw-head A, there is alink-rod m loosely secured by one end,its opposite end being similarlycon-. nected with a lever 01, that is pivoted to the car-frame, as shownin Fig. 4. Upon the face 9 of the dog 9 a pin g or similar abutment isprojected therefrom at a proper distance from the shoulder or uprightwall g thereon to freely admit the coupling-link B between them. Thereis a notch 2' cut in the bar r'at such a distance from its ends as willlocate the notch nearest the side of the draw-head that is pressed uponby the springk when the bar is in normal condition, so that the solidportion of said bar will have contact with the horizontal face 9 of thecoupling-dog and prevent the toe g from inclining from a verticalposition.

In service if two of .the improved couplings are to be connected by alink B the latter is inserted within one draw-head A until it strikesagainst the rear wall of the aperture a. This will cause the bow end ofthe inserted link to strike upon the curved front face of the pin 9 androck it rearwardly until it strikes upon the front edge of the cross-barz. This rotatable movement of the coupling-dog 9 will elevate its toe 9so as to cause it to On the other end of the,

enter the link B, whereby said link will be interlocked with the toe andsecurely coupled to the draw-head. The cars to be coupled are now madeto approach each other until the link B, held in one draw-head, isentered into a similar draw-head on the other car, which will rock thecoupling-dog therein in like manner as has been explained and interlockits toe g with the other end of the link.

When cars having the improved coupling are to be detached from eachother, this is effected by a vibration of the levern outwardly, asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. This will draw the notch i of thebar 01 into alignment with the coupling-dog 9, so that draft strainapplied to the link B will rock the toe g forwardly and release thelink, as shown by dotted lines at the right in Fig. 1.

It will be seen that the improved coupling can be coupled with the usualform of linkand-pin coupling and that slight variations in height ofcars will not prevent two of the improved couplings from being coupledautomatically.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a draw-head apertured in front and adapted toreceive a coupling-dog at the rear of the aperture, of a pivotedcoupling-dog having a toe formed on it to engage an insertedcoupling-link and a transverse sliding notched bar which will hold thedog from rocking, substantially as described.

'2. The combination, with a draw-head apertured in front and verticallyslotted to receive a coupling-dog, ofadisk-like couplingdog. having atoe and pivoted in the slot of the draw-head and a locking-bar having anotch that will clear it from contact with the coupling-dog when it isslid transversely in a cross-slot in the draw-head, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination, with a draw-head that is forwardly apertured andsupported to slide on a car-frame and a buifer-spring therefor, of adisk-like pivoted coupling-dog having a toe formed by cutting away partof the disk, a pin thereon rearward of the toe, a notched cross-baradapted to lock or release the dog by its sliding movement, and means tomove the bar longitudinally, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a draw-head apertured forwardly and having thetop and bottom walls of the aperture divergently sloped and slotted frombelow to receive a circular coupling-dog, of a disk-like coupling-dogpivoted at its centerin the slot of the draw-head, a toe on the disk,formed by cutting it away and adapted to engage a coupling-link, a pinon a flat face of the disk-like dog rearward of its toe, a notchedcross-bar transversely located in a slot in the draw-head rearward ofthe pin on the dog, a spiral spring on one end of the cross-bar whichdraws the notch of the bar away from the dog, and a link and leverconnected to the other end of the cross-bar, substantially as described.

MELVIN T. MILES.

Witnesses:

WINTHROP N. SPRING, G. H. SPRING.

